.post-title.entry-title { display: none; } (ノ・◡・)ノ* :･ﾟ✧ |✖|- » Noufie

Friday, 2 August 2019

Who thinks being a SCDF paramedic is easy?

I thought it was. 
I AM SO WRONG. 

I'm pretty sure the training is going to be worse than the three years in nursing diploma. 
And that's with ten years of nursing experience, which gives me a leg up on A&P. 

So first up, three weeks of basic training at CDA. 
If you've never been in a uniform group or have any idea about the NS life, this will be a definite culture shock. Waking up for basic training and PT at 5.30am, 15 mins for mealtimes, foot drills, lights out/last movement... That was a whole new world for me during the first few days of camp. It was interesting, having a regiment to stick to after years of having lots of leeway.

But ohhhhh boy, I now get why the NS men are so excited about booking out, and dread booking in. All the discussions about what we're gonna eat/drink once we book out, all the cravings etc... Yea, I totally understand now, haha!

Foot drills though. 
I am so, SO sorry for my sergeants who had a tough time trying to teach an uncoordinated klutz the basics. I honestly don't know who struggled more, me or the sergeants. Glad that I'm a source of entertainment to Fahmee though during those drills! I think a decade of being a nurse and trying to look small and unintimidating is like second nature to me - how the hell do you "lock" your arms and body so you don't look like a flapping sotong during turns?!

5bx would have been fine if I didn't have cough/URTI to mess with my right ear. 
And I learnt that I cannot run with someone infront of me. The effort it takes to regulate my strides tire me out faster than a 5km run apparently. And I need my music to run to! 

Just a side note : 
If your inner ear is messed up and you have intermittent giddiness from it, try to avoid making too many sharp turns and stamping during foot drills. That wasn't fun at all, especially when you're so focused on the kiris and kanans to notice the initial warning signs! -_-; 
Yea, yea, I felt my age - OLD.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

This is the first year I'm not a nurse for Nurses' Day. 

I guess I feel kinda lost? Being a nurse was kind of an identity for me.
Now that I'm out of it (but with plans to renew my license annually), I feel like I've lost a sense of belonging. 

Maybe I'll start feeling like a part of the SCDF family soon?
I want to be a paramedic, but ehhh, maybe I still haven't got the proper frame of mind yet. 

posted by Noufie

Friday, 1 March 2019

I lasted ten years as a nurse. o_O
I wouldn't say my passion fizzled out or that I was burnt out, but I just found myself dragging my feet to work during the last few years. It's just the same stuff over and over again. 

 The day I caught myself not giving a damn if a stubborn patient refused to sit out of bed was the day I realized I needed to leave. I wasn't so far gone to the extent that I got sloppy and careless in providing care to the patients, but to lose that spark that made me want to make a difference in my patient's life was the last straw. Better leave before I turn into a bitter, unfeeling robot. ^^;

 -x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

 Did some thinking about where to head off to after my resignation. 
Figured that since I'll be heading off to a new place, why not try something different?

 And then suddenly, I'm seeing SCDF paramedic advertisements everywhere. x)
So why not? I'm keen on staying in the medical line anyway.
(Just not back to nursing, at least for some time.)

 Yea, the whole applying for a new job thing? NOT FUN.
I don't even remember if I had a resume/CV for the time I applied to work at TTSH. 
I only remembered them telling me that they'll call me back within the week to let me know if they decide to hire me, only to receive a call from them before I could even exit the building, haha!

 So anyway, as I was saying, NOT FUN. 
Typing up my resume? That was stressful.
Typing up my CV? Pretty sure 70% was bullshit. x)
The fact that I'm applying for a job that's closely tied to the government did not make it easier either! All the official forms... And more forms... And the waiting... ;^;

 Sent in my application on 6th Jan. 
Received a reply on 15th Jan, inviting me to a psychometric assessment. 
Lots of questions, mostly to test your logical reasoning and your mental stability. 
Got called back for a preliminary interview, so I guess they decided that I'm not a depressed/suicidal pyromaniac based on the assessment, heh. 

 Then they called back for a physical assessment. 
(I am the very definition of a couch potato this past year and even I could pass!)
Then called back to a panel interview. Not sure if I did great because it barely lasted ten minutes.
Felt a bit ticked off that they used the words "you're old" and "not sure if you can keep up physically" - though KISA assured me that his friends claim that the panelists will deliberately try to stress you out.  Yea well, if that's the case, I'm very thankful I was so nervous that I was too stoned to react to the jibes, besides raising an eyebrow and lots of blinking/eyelid twitches. x_x;

 Aaaaand now they'll be posting me to a two-day posting with paramedics in mid-March. 
Kinda long process, but ehh, it's a government job, they're bound to be more stringent in who they employ. I hope I make the cut, because I really, reaaaaallly wanna expand my medical knowledge beyond just surgical care! Intubation, emergency chest tube insertion, deliveries!! :o

 And also because I wanna be a newbie again! LOL. 

posted by Noufie